Preparing For the Real War: Novel One
by reeset
Summary: Four enemies have come from a far away land in search of a power great enough to destroy the universe. The power is said to be deadly and everlasting. Zidane, Garnet, and their friends must stop them from finding and unleashing this power. Can it be done?


Final Fantasy 9

Novel One: Preparing for the Real War

Part One:

The War Had Just Begun

***Introduction***

It was only a short period of time after the horrible war with Kuja. He had warped Queen Brahnes' mind, making her power hungry for the eidolons to use in war. After Brahne had attacked Kuja unwillingly, Kuja turned against her and destroyed her fleet of ships, and killed Brahne as well. After Zidane and co. ventured out to the other continents of Gaia, they fought and destroyed Kuja. Now, Princess Garnet has returned to rule over Alexandria, and to help the other nations rebuild.

***Chapter 1***

The Beginning

It was a peaceful, sunny day during the summer in Alexandria. The peaceful birds flew high and mightily over the skies. Alexandria was in good shape. Although the war had torn them apart, their spirits still kept them going. All the Alexandrians loved their nation, and would live with it 'til the end of the world. 

"Good morning, Queen Garnet," Beatrix said as Garnet had entered the hall from her chambers. 

"And good morning to you, Beatrix," Garnet replied with a smile.

"Garnet, you have a visitor waiting for you," Beatrix told her as she closed the door and followed Garnet.

"Who would want to see me this early in the morning?" Garnet asked, thoughtfully, yet smiling.

"...An old friend, I might say. They are waiting downstairs. I offered them breakfast, but they refused," Beatrix said with her head high. She knew the visitors would surprise Garnet.

"They? I thought you said 'friend'. Oh well. Have the chef make me my usual, and tell him to take his time," Garnet ordered, and Beatrix nodded in reply and left. _Now, if I only knew who they were...I guess I will soon find out._

Garnet made her journey throughout the long, vast halls of the castle. Upon entering the lobby, she saw Steiner at the door. She approached him with a smile.

"So, where are these visitors?" Garnet asked him.

"Good morning, Queen Garnet. I ordered them to the lounge. I told them you will meet them when you are ready," Steiner replied. His armor shone brightly in the sunlight that reflected off of his armor.

"Thank you. Oh, and Steiner, who are they?" Garnet asked Steiner with impatience.

"You will soon find out. I think you enjoyed your time with him," Steiner said, winking.

"Thank you again, Steiner," Garnet replied.

"It's all in a day's duty, Queen," he replied, "Now, I think you should be off to see them."

With that, Garnet walked up the left stairs and turned into a new hall that was added in honor of the citizens. As Garnet closed the door, she ran. She was excited. She knew who was in that lounge. She came to the end of the hall. She stopped to catch her breath, and she put her ear to the door and listened. She heard familiar voices. They were only in fragments, but she knew who was there. It could only be...

"Zidane!" Garnet yelled, and she fled to the comfortable red sofa from where he sat. Zidane quickly turned to her direction and looked. He got up just as she was a heartbeat away from him. She jumped into his arms and hugged him. _How long have I missed you, Zidane?_

"Garnet, er... Queen! I...." Zidane started to say, but he was too happy to talk. Garnet stood there with her arms around him for some time, until finally, Steiner had decided to join the party and tear him away from her.

"You filthy rat, that is NO way to treat the Queen of Alexandria! You could be arres..." Steiner started, but he was soon interrupted by Garnet.

"Steiner, please. Can't you ever leave me alone?" Garnet asked him.

"But Garnet! He could have had a knife in your back in that little time! He is a thief, you know..."

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?" Garnet yelled at him, and he backed away.

"It's good to see you, Queen Garnet," Zidane said playfully, giving her a clumsy bow. Garnet smiled and silently laughed.

"Oh, Zidane, you don't have to call me Queen, just Garnet.... Or Dagger, if you prefer," she said, remembering her fake name she had used so no one would know who she really was long ago.

"Me hungry!" A familiar voice came from behind Garnet. She turned around and there s/he stood. Quina, with his/her tongue hanging out down to her stomach. Along side 'it' was Vivi, Eiko, and Freya.

"You're all here! But...where is Amarant?" Garnet asked.

"We couldn't find him anywhere. We saw him a few days ago. He mentioned leaving Alexandria to some people," Vivi said. Vivi looked at Garnet, and she smiled back at him.

"That's too bad. I really wish this reunion included him, but I guess he can do what he wants," Garnet said, deep in thought of Amarant. _I wish you were here now._

"Well, what should we do now? I don't want to stand here all day," Zidane said, staring out a window.

"Yeah. Quina hungry!" Quina said.

"Well, you guys could stay for breakfast. I wouldn't mind hearing about what you've been doing all this time." Garnet suggested, and they all agreed. Garnet showed them all the way downstairs and into the dining room. As they room emptied, a black figure stared inside one of the windows, jumped high into the air, and disappeared.

***

"Oh, boy, that was some damn good breakfast," Zidane said, falling into a chair back at the lounge. Vivi plopped down beside him, groaning. Eiko sat down in a comfortable looking red chair, and Freya leaned against a wall. Quina was still downstairs, eating tons of food and giving her opinion to the chefs of how good the food is. 

"So, you guys really haven't done too much since the war ended, have you?" Garnet asked, but basically said.

"Nope. We've just been chillin' out, that's all," Zidane replied. He burped loudly afterwards.

"Ew.... Gross out!" Eiko said, moving her chair a nice distance away from Zidane.

"What? What did I do?" Zidane said heavily, feeling another burp coming up.

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard outside. The sound of creaking metal and breaking windows filled the air outside of the castle. Garnet ran over to the window and peered out. One of the nation's tallest buildings was falling over, and was also on fire. Suddenly, a large ball of fire sped past the window and hit one of the castles' turrets.

"Oh my God... We're under attack!" Garnet yelled as the castle shook. Beatrix and Steiner came running into the room.

"Steiner! I want you to get everyone to safety! Take them to Treno on the Gargant!" Garnet shouted him the orders, and then she turned to Beatrix. "Beatrix, round up all the guards! Bring them to the lobby! I'll be there shortly." Steiner nodded, and he took Zidane and co. out of the room.

Beatrix went down the hall in search of the guards. Soon, Garnet was all alone. She looked out the window and saw an airship around the entrance to Alexandria. It looked extremely powerful, and it also looked like... the Hilda Garde 3!

***Chapter 2***hgjgfhj  
Visitors From Afar

"No... It can't be..." Garnet panicked, "Not Uncle Cid... It can't be..." Garnet ran down the halls until she came to the lobby. All of Alexandria's guards were here, and Beatrix was waiting at the balcony for her orders.

"Queen Garnet, have you found out who the attacker is?" Beatrix asked.

"It..... it's Uncle Cid..." Garnet said, her hands in her face. Tears were slowly running down her face.

"You mean Regent Cid of Lindblum? That's insane! Are you sure?" one of the guards asked her.

"The ship is the Hilda Garde 3. That is his ship," Garnet replied unwillingly.

"... Why would he want to destroy us?" Beatrix asked her.

"I don't know. But I am not going to let him destroy Alexandria! I want everyone to get to their battle stations. I want that ship destroyed!" Garnet yelled.

Beatrix was in shock. _Why would she want to kill her own uncle?_ But there was no time for thinking. She sent all the guards off and Beatrix went outside of the castle and to the roof of it. She looked at the ship from where she stood. 4 figures stood on the ship. As her duty as War General of Alexandria, she attacked the ship with her powerful magic.

"Shock!" Beatrix yelled, and out shot a thunder-like blast that hit the ship. From down below, the guards were shooting at the ship. One guard decided to fire a Bomb. The Bomb flew up and headed for the ship.

Just as the Bomb was about a football field away from the airship, one of the 4 people onboard the ship shot out a powerful wave of thunder. It hit the Bomb and the Bomb blew up. Beatrix was shocked. She stepped back a few feet. The guards all stopped firing and stared blankly at the ship.

***

"This way!" Steiner yelled to the group behind him as he led them to the Gargant. Zidane and co. followed him through the halls. Suddenly, Zidane wanted to help Garnet. He slowed down and let the rest of the group go ahead of him. He stopped before they turned a corner. He waited for them to go on a ways. Not knowing where Garnet was, he went as high as he could from where he was. He ended up on top of the castle, where Beatrix stood, staring at the airship.

It wasn't long before Vivi noticed Zidane had left. Vivi tapped on Freyas' leg. Freya turned around.

"Where is Zidane?" Vivi asked Freya. Freya looked around the group. He couldn't see him either.

"I don't know, but he may be in trouble. Let's go find him. I'll get Eiko," Freya told Vivi. Vivi slowed to a stop as Freya brought Eiko back. Steiner was still running down the halls as if the whole group was still with him.

"We better go find Quina," Eiko said, and they headed for the kitchens.

"What's going on? Who is that?" Zidane asked Beatrix as he walked up to her. Beatrix turned around, startled to find him there.

"I don't know... That ship is the Hilda Garde 3, and it belongs to Regent Cid. But Cid isn't on that ship..." Beatrix told him. Zidane looked up at the airship. He saw 4 mysterious black figures, each of different shapes. One looked like he was a stronger, bigger outline of Kuja, one looked like a Black Waltz, but you couldn't tell what the other 2 looked like. The one that looked like a Black Waltz was at the peak of the ship closest to the castle. He had his staff in front of him. He looked like he was ready to fire. Suddenly, he jumped into the air and landed on the castle roof. Beatrix and Zidane backed off. Queen Garnet came out of the trapdoor in the roof.

"Who...who are you? What are you doing here?" Beatrix asked the Black Waltz look-a-like.

"I am a Black Mage by the name of Daggeron. We have come here to take over this... this planet called Gaia," Daggeron said defiantly. "We are experienced warriors and have come here on this mission. Now, if you would kindly step aside and let us take over, we will let you all live."

"No! Never! You won't take Alexandria away from me!" Garnet also said defiantly.

"Well then, I guess I only have one choice. To kill you all!"

***Battle Sequence***

"You fools! You should have listened to me earlier. You shall not live!" Daggeron said powerfully. 

__

If I were only in Trance right now... Zidane thought.

Daggerons' staff waved in the air as he said, "Thundara!" The large thunder-like blast hit the entire group, and Garnet tumbled backwards. 

__

Please, Alexandra, if I have ever needed you, I need you now... Garnet pleaded in her thoughts. Suddenly, her necklace began to sparkle a bluish color, like it had when Kuja was attacking Alexandria. In no time at all, Alexandra's wings were protecting her kingdom.

"You can't take over when Alexandra is guarding us!" Garnet shouted.

"I can still kill you, though!" Daggeron said. 

Beatrix attacked him with her sword, and cut a nice, deep gash in his arm.

"Fool! You shall pay dearly for that!" Daggeron shouted! He waved his staff around and yelled, "BLIZZARD!" and an icy cold blast hit Beatrix. She fainted almost as quickly as the blast hit her.

__

Either she isn't very strong or he is very strong... Zidane thought.

__

Ramuh, I need you. I must protect myself and my friends! Garnet thought again. Suddenly, Ramuh, a thunder god, appeared high in the sky. He looked down upon Daggeron and threw his staff down. It landed in front of him, and with one mighty blast, the staff sent out an extremely powerful thunder blast, and Daggeron fell to his knees. He got back up quickly, trying to hide his weakness. Suddenly, he had it, but not before Zidane got in a hit with his Ogre. The gash in his arm was now so deep his arm might fall off any moment.

"Shock...BLAST!" Daggeron yelled, and a powerful blast of thunder hit Garnet and Zidane and caused them to fall over. Not from fainting, but from the pain.

***Battle Sequence End***  


"Finally, you are too weak to protect this silly kingdom. I will now get rid of you all, before you become a threat in the future," Daggeron said as he approached Beatrix. She had woken up just after the battle. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. She stood there weakly, as is she was almost ready to fall over. Daggeron pushed her against the edge of the castle.

"Say your prayers, lady. You won't be seeing this kingdom anymore," Daggeron mischievously laughed. He was almost ready to push her off when suddenly, a mysterious person had jumped down from the sky. He wore a black cape, black gloves, a sleeveless black shirt, black shoes, and black pants. His hair was black, highlighted with red streaks here and there. He landed quickly behind Daggeron, who quickly turned around as this new person touched ground.

"Who the hell are you? Another weakling?" Daggeron said, sounding overconfident.

"Who I am is none of your business. What I am doing here is not yours either, but I am afraid you must know," the mysterious guy said (until his name is mentioned, I will call him M. G. which is short for Mysterious Guy!).

"And just what must I know?" Daggeron asked with little curiosity.

"That your death has come," M. G. said. He untied the rope that held his cape up and threw it to the side.

***Battle Sequence***

"You know you can't kill me. You don't know what I am capable of," Daggeron told him.

"I don't think you know what I am capable of," M. G. said. Daggeron hit M. G. with his staff. M. G. barely moved. M. G. started to glow. _Ha ha bastard. Too bad you didn't know I was going into Trance!_

"Now, what were you saying?" M. G. said. Next thing he said came to Daggerons' surprise.

"Dyne!" M. G. said. Daggeron was suddenly hit with an explosion so painful he stopped the fight.

***End Battle Sequence***  


"You.....you bitch! You tricked me!" Daggeron said.

"I didn't trick you, you started the fight," M. G. replied.

"You said you came here to kill me! Do you think I was just going to let you without a fight?" Daggeron said back with a mad look in his yellow eyes.

"It would have been a lot easier for you," M. G. said. 

"You may have defeated me now, but you just wait," Daggeron said. With that, he jumped high, did a back flip in the air, and landed on the ship. The ship left Alexandria and, more than likely, left to take over some other nation.

"Hey, that was pretty cool! I didn't know you could do Trance, too!" Zidane said with excitement.

"He he, thanks. Well, I should be off now," M. G. said. He turned around and began to walk to the edge of the castle.

"Hey! We don't even know who you are!" Zidane yelled to him.

"And as the Queen of Alexandria, I demand that you tell us!" Garnet yelled at him. M. G. looked back and gave them a warm smile.

"My name is not important now, but I come from this very nation. I grew up in a poor family and I was sent off as a slave to some guy in the Lost continent. I had worked harder than ever, and the man I worked for was a martial arts teacher. He brought out this power in me, he showed me how to do Trance, and he showed me the way to work the magic I held. Now, I really must be off. So long!" he said, and he jumped off the ledge of the castle. Beatrix ran over to the ledge just as he landed. He hadn't hurt himself, and he didn't leave a mark from where he landed. He walked away and out of site. At that moment, the trapdoor opened, revealing Freya. She got out and the rest of the gang followed her. Soon enough, everyone but Steiner was there on the roof of the castle.

"What the hell happened? We could hear fighting and explosions from all the way downstairs!" Freya yelled aloud.

"Ummm....those dudes that were attacking Alexandria were fighting with us. Then some guy along and beat up this Black Waltz looking guy. It wasn't Cid like we had expected. I think we better get to Cid and talk to him," Zidane told the crowd. It was only moments later when Steiner came bursting through the door.

"Why did you all leave me! You could have been killed or something...Queen Garnet! Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Steiner started asking Garnet questions.

"I am fine, Steiner, but thank you. Anyways, Steiner, I want you to immediately get someone to contact Uncle Cid and have him send an airship here to pick us up. Beatrix, I want you to round up all the guards and tell them to search the city for anything suspicious, and for any hurt people." Garnet commanded the two. Zidane was over at the edge of the castle roof, staring out into nothing. Vivi was at his side. Garnet, worried, walked over to them.

"Is something wrong?" she asked uncertainly.

"Huh? Oh, nothing's wrong. I was just looking..." Zidane said, startled. Vivi also turned to look at Garnet, but said nothing.

"I just don't know why this is the time for war. I mean, we just rebuilt everything, and we have asked for so much help... I just don't think I'm fit to be a Queen..." Garnet said. She sighed and rested her head on Zidanes' shoulder.

"What do you mean you're not fit to be a Queen? I mean, look at you! You are the most beautiful chick, er... lady I have ever seen! Everyone has to ask for a little help sometime, you know." Zidane told her.

"I guess so. I just hope Cid can help me, since I will be going away for a while..." Garnet replied.

"What?! You're leaving? Where are you going?" Zidane said, surprised.

"I'm going with you, and Vivi, and all the others. Aren't you going to try and get rid of those guys?" Garnet asked.

"Well, yeah, but still, don't you have a kingdom to rule?" Zidane told her.

"That is why I am getting Cid to help me. I'm thinking of having him rule while I'm gone. Look, I am perfectly capable of going with you!" Garnet replied again. Just then, Steiner came up through the trapdoor.

"Queen Garnet, they are sending a nearby airship here to pick us up. They will be here any minute," Steiner said, looking at her, then Zidane, and then back at Garnet.

"Alright. Thank you, Steiner." Garnet said, and she then looked at Zidane. "Well, I guess we better get ready for another adventure."

"I guess so. I'll see you at the loading dock in a few minutes, ok?" Zidane said after Garnet removed her head from his shoulders.

"Alright. Ill see you then." she replied, and then she was off. Zidane went downstairs into one of the public bathrooms to clean up. He rounded up Freya, Vivi, Quina, and Eiko, and they waited at the loading dock for Garnet. She arrived shortly after everyone else, and as soon as the airship arrived, they all got on and rode to Lindblum.

***Chapter 3***hgjgfhj  
Asking for a Favor

As they arrived in Lindblum, they immediately saw a little panic and distress. There were people running down the streets with every belonging they could hold. Children staggered behind their parents, and people were boarding small, private airships or public airships. And then, of course, there was those who stayed behind. Many people closed their shops and locked their houses tight.

"What's going on here? Why is everyone hiding and leaving the city?" Garnet asked, looking from left to right at the running families.

"They were recently attacked by some weirdo's that overtook the Hilda Garde 3. Cid didn't want to give it up so easily, so he put up a fight, but that fight didn't last long. Those guys blew up buildings with the snap of their fingers. It was horrible," one of the crewmen said. He continued moving crates around the ship. Vivi walked over to Garnet and peered over the edge of the slow-moving airship. They were starting to come to a halt.

"G-Garnet, w-why is everyone leaving? What is going on?" Vivi asked.

"Well, you know those guys back in Alexandria? They stole an airship here, and I guess the destroyed some peoples homes. People just want to stay away from them, and others are standing up by staying here," Garnet told Vivi. Vivi nodded and watched the people below for a bit. It wasn't much longer when the ship stopped at the castles loading dock. Two castle guards were there to escort Garnet and her friends to see Regent Cid.

"Please step this way, Queen Garnet first," one of the guards said. Garnet stepped off of the ship, and the guards got on either side of her. Zidane and co. followed them. As they walked down these halls, they remembered them from when the war had gone on before. They looked at the murals on the walls as they passed down them. They soon came to the meeting room. the guards opened the doors for them and they entered. As they entered, they saw Cid sitting in his chair, which was mounted well above the others.

"Please, take a seat," Cid offered, and they gladly accepted. As they sat down, Cid got up and walked down to them.

"As you have probably noticed, we have another problem on our hands. And just when we were recovering..." Cid started, "But, of course, we have to get rid of them before they can do anything smart. We have sent two spies to follow them, and one of them has come back. He mentioned to us that they will be needing an army if they are going to pull through with their plan."

"Did he mention anything else?" Freya asked Cid.

"No," Cid began again, "He said the guards had heard something and he decided it would be best if he left. The other spy has not come back yet, so he was either caught, killed, or he just hasn't come back. But we can't take any chances. If they really are planning to form an army, it'll probably be.."

"Black Mages," they all said together. Even Vivi, a black mage himself, had said it.

"Yes, probably, so I am glad you contacted me. I have already started construction of the Hilda Garde 4 and many fleets of airships and boats, and the armies have been training vigorously. But if it is black mages they are making, then I suggest all of us nations join forces and fight as one," Cid said.

"Uncle Cid, you have my word on it. I will need to have someone notify Steiner or Beatrix so they can start training the army," Garnet said and nodded in agreement.

"Good. I have already contacted Treno on this, and all of the remaining Burmecians have also agreed, and now I think Queen Garnet wishes to ask me something in private, so would you all mind if you left her alone with me," Cid said. Zidane and co. all left the room, and Garnet approached Cid.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go see some old friends. I'll meet you all back here at the castle, K?" Zidane told them, and they all replied with an O.K. . Zidane ran down the hall and out of the castle.

"So, my dear Garnet, what was it you wanted to ask me?" Cid asked Garnet as she approached him.

"Um, Uncle Cid, I was hoping you wouldn't mind ruling Alexandria for me while I'm gone," Garnet told him.

"WHAT?! Where the heck do you think you're going?" Cid said with a crazy messed up look on his face.

"Well, my friends are going off to fight Daggeron and his friends, and I wanted to help them. I mean, look. I fought with them against Kuja, and I want to help them again," Garnet told him. 

Cid thought about the idea a little, and he sighed and said, "Oh, alright, I guess. You are still under rule, and I will do whatever you want me to do. Just don't be gone too long," Cid smiled. Garnet ran up to him and hugged him.

"Thank you, Uncle Cid," Garnet said.

***Chapter 4***hgjgfhj  
Visiting Old Friends

Zidane passed down the streets of Lindblum. After riding the airship transport, he finally remembered where his old home was. As he rounded the corner, he noticed it...his old home. It was completely rebuilt and was not damaged in Daggerons attack.

Zidane ran up to the front door and burst through it. His excitement died down as he looked inside. No one was inside. Zidane looked around. Baku and the gang still lived here, apparently, but no one was here.

"Now, just where the hell could they be?" Zidane asked himself aloud. He went over to the table in the middle and saw a pile of Gil just lying there.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! THERE HAS TO BE AT LEAST 500,000 GIL HERE!" Zidane yelled out loud. He began running his hands through it, feeling the nice touch of half a million Gil. Suddenly, he heard the door creek open. Two men in black robes with hoods appeared in the front doorway. They raised their swords in attack.

***Battle Sequence***

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Zidane yelled. The two hooded figures just stared on ahead. You couldn't see their faces, but you could tell they were still looking ahead. The one on the left raised his sword and ran up to Zidane. As he started to come to a stop in front of him, he swung his sword at Zidane. He missed. Zidane went on and took a double attack. He ran up, kicked the guy on the left in the face, which knocked him down. He dueled with the other figure until he hit the sword so hard it flew out of his hands and hit the wall. The two figures backed off.

**End Battle Sequence***

"Hey! Stop it dude! It's just us!" one of the cloaked figures said. They pulled off their hoods and revealed two of Zidanes old friends, Cinna and Blank.

"Hey guys! What's with the costume?" Zidane asked.

"Well, we were gambling over in Treno, and we sorta won, as you can probably see. But that's not all we won. That's what we have left to count," Cinna said, acting as natural as possible.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE LEFT TO COUNT? HOW MUCH DID YOU GET?" Zidane screamed with surprise.

"I think we got somewhere around 1.5 million. We used some of it already to finish building the place back up, and of course, we will sell this old place and find a new home. It's kind of cramped in here, you know, since it's so small," Blank continued.

"Yeah, we are thinking about buying some old mansion downtown. It's been for sale for months, and it's just the place we need," Cinna said. 

"Well, it's nice seeing you guys. I gotta get back to everyone else. Cya!" Zidane said, and he started to walk through the door. 

"Wait!" Blank said, and Zidane came to a halt and turned around. Cinna tossed him a bag of Gil.

"Our little gift to you," Blank said with a smile.

"Thanks," Zidane replied, eyes lit up. He turned around, and left.

Chapter 5hgjgfhj  
The Start of a New Adventure

"Well, Garnet, I think I'm doing any possible thing to help you right now. I'm giving you a small airship, some new weapons, and enough food to last you for a long time. I don't know how else I could help," Cid said.

"Uncle Cid, you have done more than enough for me, and I will never be able to thank you," Garnet replied as she smiled up to him.

"Don't worry, my dear. We are in a time of war, and during this time everyone must stick together to destroy the enemy. Do not say such things," Cid told her. He smiled back at her. It was now that Zidane had returned with Vivi and Freya and all the others.

"I think it's time, Garnet," Zidane told her. Garnet turned and looked at him. She stared into those eyes of his.

"Alright. Then let's go!" Garnet yelled with confidence, and with that they left the palace to get on the ship, which waited for them at the Southern Gate.

(Short Chapter, I know, but I had to wrap things up to start on Part 2!)

Conclusion: Cid led the group to the Hilda Garde 4, where they stepped onboard. Cid had put a few troops of his on board as extra help. As Garnet stepped onto the ship, which was ready to take off, she said her goodbyes and thank you's to Cid. A tear formed in her eye as the ship took off into the sunset.


End file.
